Sunday, January 24, 2010

I love photography. It was the first area of art in which I ever dabbled. I started when I was 8, and I got my first camera from sending in cereal box tops (yes, seriously). When I was in college, I bought my first SLR camera and took a black & white photography class. I loved developing film and how the camera helped me see the world in different ways. I didn't buy a digital camera until a few years ago because I didn't like the quality of digital prints or the price of digital SLR's. I finally took the dive into digital with a Nikon D50 (no longer made), and I love it. Part of my artistic style is to incorporate my photography into my work. Here's a few ways I do that.

1. Photo panels. One of the first things I started doing with my photographs was to place them onto painted 6x6 panels of paper. I usually mat the picture and add a stamped sentiment. The one at left has a picture from a park in Budapest. I find these sell pretty well at craft fairs. I price them for $20 unframed. Occasionally, I frame them, like the one up top. For photo panels, I use an actual photo, not a copy. Travel photos seem to work very well. In the future, I'd like to make some that are 12x12.
2. Copy the photo and use it in a collage. I've featured lots of these on my blog, but you can see two that hang in my living room in this post and a whole variety in this post. Many of my collages use heritage photos from my collection. While not actually my photos, I think it's worth mentioning as well. You can see a sample here and here.
3. Use the photo as inspiration for drawing or other type of art journal page. I would not have thought of this before making the clothesline art journal page and getting such nice feedback on it from you all. But now, I think I'm going to do more of this and see where it leads me.
4. Copy a lot of photos to make collage sheets and use the photos on collage image cards. I featured this idea as a tutorial in this post and featured the various cards people made with the tutorial here. As a variation, I have also copied heritage photos and used them on cards, here.
5. Make photo cards. This is actually a little different than the cards we made before. They deserve their own post and that's what's coming tomorrow.
I hope you found this useful. I'd love to hear if there are other ways that you use your photographs in your art.

Some really creative ideas for photos.....and love the way you combine with other media.I think I definately need a photography class......my photos are such poor quality.....definately couldn't sell them!!

Maria "Rinda" Ontiveros

Artist & Blogger

2016 Summertime Scavenger Hunt

The List!

1. A "wild heart" - a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn't have to be a rock)2. A footprint or pawprint3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray4. A book or magazine read during 20165. A porch or deck6. A camper (caravan)7. A family gathering8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.10. A bicycle11. Fresh produce12. A window13. The moon14. A buffet of food15. A team logo16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period17. Twins18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries 19. A seasonal cocktail or beverage20. Someone laughing21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.Alternatives - if you're having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):alternative 1: a lighthousealternative 2: a baby (human or animal)